Scooped
on Sunday, November 29, 2009

The stage is set for Mel Gibson's return to acting. Last year as the writer's strike was hitting Gibson was about to star in Edge of Darkness, a thriller by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale). The film was shot without incident and has been looking for a movie studio to distribute it. Now it has one.

Warner Bros. has stepped up and purchased the rights to release Edge of Darkness across North America. The move is a slightly gutsy one for WB after Gibson's infamous anti-Jewish drunken tirade made papers worldwide three years ago, sinking the A-list actor's reputation both with audiences and with those working in show business. Gibson later apologized twice for his remarks but now comes the real test: will people forgive Gibson's outburst or has it forever tanished his on-screen bankability?

Edge of Darkness was adapted from the BBC mini-series by The Departed screenwriter William Monahan and Andrew Bovell. Gibson plays a Boston homicide detective who spirals into a zone of blackness when the body of his young son is discovered on the doorstep of his own home. Warners hasn't issued a tentative release date for the picture yet.